November 6, 2005

This was the date of my grandmother's passing. I thought of it today because the prompt at One Minute Writer was to write about a favorite childhood treat.I was fortunate to be able to travel with Grandma when I was younger. She always bought a 1 lb bag of M&M's to have in the car. Their place in the car was on the front seat in between us.

We'd eat on those all the way to our destination, whether is was

to her house in SC or

back to my house (wherever that was at the time) or

to PA for the Morley Reunion or

to FL to see her parents or

NC to go to Cherokee.

David (brother), Me and Tim (uncle) at Cherokee

I also remember eating at Cracker Barrel with her. It was such a great memory for me that when we'd visit them as adults, we always tried to take her and Grandpa to Cracker Barrel for a meal. Other great memories I have are:

Going to Mother/Daughter Banquets with her while I was at BJU.

Helping with Great-Grandma Morely while she lived with Grandma in Honea Path. I worked at Grandpa's Shaved Ice stand the same summer.

Playing "house" in the cabin in the backyard at Bennett Street.

Playing with the Swaffer's each summer. I was fortunate to be able to visit my Grandma every summer since I was two.

Grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk after church on Sunday nights.

Watching Gunsmoke with Grandma and Grandpa at midnight.

Reading books from Grandma and Grandpa's library.

Helping her redress her dolls when the season's changed.

Molasses cookies, fruit cake and homemade bread.

Sitting up late into the night talking and laughing. Laughing so hard we'd end of crying and not being able to talk at all.

No matter where I found myself in life or what mistakes I made, I never doubted Grandma's unconditional love for me. As her oldest grandchild, I had a special relationship with her. But she was such a woman of noble character that all of her 32 grandchildren had a special relationship with her.

The last time I saw Grandma was in September 2005 and I blogged about it here. I was so glad that she got to meet my firstborn son before she passed away.

Mary, what special remembrances of your grandmother, my aunt. I do remember her telling about traveling with a one pound bag of M&M's when she would drive from S.C. to Ulysses, PA in one day. The M&M's were gone by the time she reached her destination. I took my first airplane ride with her in Sept.1979 when we flew from Pittsburgh to Greenville. We had our comfort food , M&M's, with us a we took off holding hands and our eyes closed. I loved her singing, which happened often, triggered by some word or phrase which would also be in some song she knew. My most special times were just the 2 of us in the evening sitting at the table with our cocoa and quite often homemade toast with it as we visited about many different things. We looked forward to each other's letters. I would try to write a nice long one, worthy of reading with a cup of coffee for herself. We all loved to hear her stories which included so much laughter from her which made it difficult to get the story completed. That would make all of us laugh just as heartily. Just over a week ago, we watched the video of the 5 sisters in Florida in March 1992 performing the classic "Cab Driver" song with Mom, Aunt Marion, and Aunt Edie singing as Aunt Kathryn was the cab driver and Aunt Mable was the "man" getting a ride to meet his girl in a cardboard car made by Aunt Mable. We get such a laugh no matter how many times we watch it. I could go on & on about your Grandma, Mary. She was such a fun-loving, down-to-earth, caring person whom I dearly loved. I miss her very much. This is from Melanie Morley , not "Anonymous", as it will say. :-)

I just wanted to tell you thank you for the sweet words about Grandma. I read it Sunday morning and my mind kept thinking of so many, many things about her. I loved hearing your perspective as her granddaughter. You were very special to her too! It's hard to believe it's been 4 years.